The least, the lost and the last

I was putting up the Christmas tree this morning and thought about blogging the holiday season. With all the work that's been swamping me, it took me awhile to get into the mood of putting up the lights and ornaments.

I will veer away from the political and showbiz scenario that's been driving the Filipinos into a frenzy from the momentum of Christmas.

The TV stations have their jingling cheers, the Ayala triangle has all the lanterns adorning the warm humid air, the tiangges (a.k.a. bazaars) are back with the holiday sales and midnight madness, the malls are decked in garlands and sparkling glory, and Santa Claus is in warm and humid Manila! While I have nothing against all the festive preparation, I cannot help but wonder why we're all mired in this commercialism.

I guess the main reason why many of us, adults and children alike, look forward to the Christmas season is the bonus and 13th month pay, the exchange gifts and the toys to open on Christmas day, the feeding frenzy of parties and the wild abandon of using the holiday season in order in to indulge in gluttony. Some say that it's that "once a year" that good tidings and cheers are shared by all because of Christmas. And that's what saddens me - that the meaning of Christmas gets lost in the material celebration and the commercialism that has gone into creating an artificial sense of "joy to the world" among people.

I've always been a believer that everyday should be Christmas day. Every day should be a new year - turning new leaves in the chapters of our lives. Every day should be Valentine's day - celebrating the true meaning of love found. Every day should be mother's, father's or grandparent's day - giving due respect to those who matter most. Every day should be your last and that doing good should not be reserved for an occasion and that an occasion should only serve as a reminder that our doing good is worth the celebration.

To most of us who have more "blessings" in life - a roof over our heads, food on our table, people to love and care for us, a family to celebrate occasions with, a good and fulfilling job that provides us with the comfort of life and health - every occasion becomes a vibrant celebration.

But there are those who celebrate Christmas in make shift homes under a bridge or children who wander in the streets on a rainy Christmas day selling sampaguita and singing some carol of good cheer or those who are abandoned by parents or children who wake up each morning hoping that someone would make each day a Christmas day or better yet, a better day for them. Those who are terminally ill and would probably see this as their last Christmas season.

The needy, the hungry, the sick, the thirsty.

We don't really care much for them because we get mired in the thwarted true meaning of Christmas from all the commercialism that's been shoved into our throats. Somehow, somewhere, the meaning of Christmas has become tiring and routine that each year, that many of us have become callous in finding the real meaning of the holiday season. We reason out that because we work hard year in and year out we need to get "rewarded" at the end of the year for all that hard work.

Has business really slapped us in the face and made us look at Christmas in a different way?

Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" sends home the true message of Christmas even in modern times - the way that we should truly celebrate. In the character of Ebenezer Scrooge, we see the lives of people who come and go our way. It's changing our lives in the spirit of doing good and sharing with those who need us most that matters. It's that life changing experience of having done something that cannot be repaid in material values but also in sharing goodness to others that makes the spirit of Christmas come alive.

Each year, instead of buying trinkets and gifts to my friends, I simply donate the money to a foundation or a charitable institution that will create an impact on the lives of others. And I sign the gift in their name. And that my "grown up Christmas wish list" would be that some day, somehow, the blessings I have received in my lifetime would have been shared well with the least, the lost and the last.

Wouldn't it be a greater joy if we all paid it forward?

Happy holidays my readers!


[My all time favorite Christmas song - My Grown Up Christmas List by Kelly Clarkson]

The Conversation

Jesus: It's that time of year again and you know what? I envy you.

Santa Claus: My Lord, what do you mean you envy me?

Jesus: Well, you know that Christmas is approaching. I just find it strange that people anticipate more your coming than mine.

It was a short text message that went around and then during last Sunday's mass, the priest was preaching about advent and how much of Christmas was mired in commercialism.

In the Philippines, the Filipinos seem to have this yearly tradition of having to begin celebrating the onset of the Christmas Holidays as early as September - the official month when the months of the year hit the suffix "-ber".

Of course, you have to hand it to media and the moguls that run the media (who also own probably a mall or two) to rub it in. Sink in the message. Christmas is around the bend.

So all the tiangges, bazaars, bingos, and other entrepeneural skills that one is able to dish out comes to life!

But I agree. So much commercialism has gone into the Christmas holidays, most especially in the Philippines, where the frenzy goes into dizzying proportions as December approaches. Pinoys living in the Philippines look forward to the longest holiday fever, matched with the 13th month pay, and hopefully, a little Christmas Bonus or two from their workplace. Then there's the Christmas parties left and right, Christmas exchange gifts, Kris Kringle in the office, the postman who knocks on your door shoving an envelope (as if it were a necessity to have to give money for the work he gets paid to do) or the street urchin who jingles and jangles a can or two singing acapela some local Christmas song, or the godchildren who necessarily have to flock to the house of their godparents asking for a Christmas gift (take note of the work "asking" because it's a literal translation of the Filipino word "namamasko", which means "to ask for Christmas gift").

And with the malls, and streets and alleys, and trees and houses and my pooches' house all decked with lights, glitters and Christmas balls...or even the fake Santa Claus that sits in the mall wishing good will to all...I cannot help but actually agree with Fr. Gerard that so much commercialism has gone into Christmas. It is visibly palpable - newspapers advertising an iPad as the perfect gift or a trip to Disneyland or having dinner under the stars in Boracay...whatever your budget is, there will be a material gift that will be available in exchange.

I am no Scrooge. I guess we just need to reorient ourselves on what really all the preparation for Christmas is about. Is it about the birth of Jesus our savior or is it simply the materialism that surrounds us?

What is ironic is how we raise our children to so much materialism and commercialism that they forget that Christmas is not about Santa Claus. But why do we rather make them believe this, than believe in the miracles that the season brings?

[Images from tux.ly.blogspot.com and photosearch.com]

Finding meaning for Christmas

As I post this blog, it is Thanksgiving Day today...and exactly 30 days before Christmas 2010.

In the myriad of all the work load that I seem to be swamped with, I don't seem to feel the Christmas spirit.

Many of my friends and batchmates are busy preparing for the "Christmas" parties. Even at the office, there is the usual Kris Kringle with its weekly theme.

Outside, the malls are decked with all the glitters and lights. Some of my neighbors have actually put up their lanterns (Parols) and begun donning their gardens and trees in all gay apparel.

On my way home from the clinic last night, I watched some of the street children jingling their quarter full cans with coins. As I was looking outside the heavily tinted windows of my car, a child had stretched his face on the window hoping to get a glimpse of an occupant in the car who would probably pull out from his wallet a bill or a few coins to spare. As the rain came down hard on such a gloomy night, the young boy had scampered away in the dark. And all I could do was wonder where Dinky Soliman was in the middle of the rain....

As Christmas is around the bend, I tried desperately to search for the meaning of this yuletide season. As a matter of fact, truth be told, I always try to find some meaning for Christmas.

I asked my driver to put on the CD of Mariah Carey's new Christmas Album. In the stillness of the downpour and traffic, this song which I am posting gave me the goose bumps. I didn't know how to react or how to feel, but it felt so palpably surreal. Christmas is not about me...it's about someone who gave meaning to Christmas - one child made the difference. It was time to make mine.














When I got home, I asked the maid to bring out the Christmas Tree.

[video from YouTube.com]

Christmas day

We live in a material world.

Each holiday celebration is so commercialized that in order to feel the meaning of Christmas, there has to be bows and hollies and trees and lights....

Perhaps to some of us, the Yuletide season is a season of gift giving. There are those, however, who are less fortunate and try to make the best of the season by living simply or just getting by.

There is a deeper meaning to Christmas and this is in the sharing with whatever we have to make our fellowmen live more meaningful lives. It is in the giving that we are blessed. It is in the giving that we can find true happiness. No matter how small or big the gift, the real gift is one that comes from the heart.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish Church Preschool has a sponsor-a-child program. The preschool kids from my parish church performed for us a 15-minute number, thanking us for sponsoring them to a preschool program, during the anticipated mass yesterday. It was such a joy to see my little scholar do some song and dance number. It was a greater joy to see that she goes to school and that the money I give as a gift to improve the life or lives of one or a few are not futile.

You see, I too was a scholar. A scholar of the UST Medical Alumni Association of America who covered my fellowship training in Clinical and Molecular Pharmacology at Boston University. A scholar of the World Health Organization during my clinical pharmacology training at Mahidol University in Bangkok. And I know the feeling of being given a gift that was way beyond my expectation. They were gifts that was well used and probably the reason why I am where I am today.

I share this story because I believe in paying it forward. Watching the little children sing and dance was the icing on the cake of my gift. I believe that if we all make a difference by reaching a little deeper in our Louis Vuitton or Gucci or Prada bags and wallets, we would change and make more meaningful the lives of our fellowmen.

We need to start with one, and then there are two, and it multiplies logarithmically. We need to think beyond ourselves and share more with what God has given us in excess, with those who have less. We need to think out of the box called I, Me and Mine.

The true gift we give is not the one opened only on Christmas Day, but the one that makes each day a Merry Christmas.

Waiting...

I am an impatient person. I cannot stand traffic and I am always in a hurry to get things done. To me, the concept of "better things to do with my time" is the rule rather than the exception.

Then again, there are people that are extremely patient. Sometimes, while they can be admirable, they can also be a pain in the neck. It's like they have all the time in the world to while away.

Someone once told me that patience is a virtue. And while I objected occasionally to this belief, there would be times when I would stop and pause and think of the benefits of not having to cope with this anxiety-ridden world. I guess we are all made to believe that in this material world, we need to get from point A to point B in a zip - and we become anxious when this expectation is not met. Somehow, we have allowed ourselves to be controlled by technological marvels and competitive advancements in careers and life that the expectancy of waiting and loss of patience has deprived us of a better life.

It is said that waiting is an essential part of life. "Life is not finished in itself; there is always something more to it, something yet to come. Parents wait for their children to grow up, children wait for their time to go to school and get a job, we all wait for the sun to set before we can enjoy the beauty of moonlight. What would life be if we can no longer wait?"

Then there is the waiting for Advent or Christmas. As a Filipino race, we wait in perpetuity starting from September 1 on our countdown to Christmas. Kids wait for the holiday season to get gifts under the tree or the poor wait for some good soul to give them even just a temporary meaning to sharing and giving during the holidays. While many of us wait for our 13th month pay or our bonus, there are those who also wait for a morsel of bread to eat or even another year to live after surviving the battle with cancer for the year.

Life may be difficult and the situation around us may be disheartening, but I believe that perseverance without fear of disappointment and hope beyond prayers will always be the kind of spirit that the season of Advent reminds us.

Beyond all the despair or joy, laughter or tears...lies a heart that remains to wait for longing to look forward with hope for a happy holiday and a better year ahead.

The gift(s)

Bubba had given me a beautiful 24K plated silverware for the dining table, a pair of Springfield slippers, some boxer underwear, and of course Strivectin for my wrinkles.

Mom had given me a Billabong surfer shorts, Oakley surfer shorts and a shirt from FCUK.

My sister and the kids had given me a Billabong shorts and a new gym bag.

All together, these were the gifts I got from my family and my partner.

More than the gifts, however, is the giver.

Which goes to the essence of Christmas. After all the gift giving and receiving, we wonder how this tradition of "exchanging" gifts actually started. As tradition has it, and as we celebrate Christmas, it's rites actually started at the birth of Jesus Christ over two millenia ago.

Christmas day was celebrated quietly over mass and dinner later that day. Over dinner we discussed why there was an "exchange" of gifts as a ritual for the Christmas season. It turns out that Christmas day is, after all, our other birthday. It's the day when Christ the Lord was born, symbolically as a human being - who had to grow up, live, suffer and die like many of us. In more ways than one, our God had sent His only son to become one of us. To be like us in all ways, except being sinful. And so the tradition lives on that we celebrate each Christmas day as the day when we were all born into this world sans all sins, like the child in the manger, innocent.

We exchange gifts to commemorate our birth into this world. At times good to us. At time being cruel. And beyond the gifts we receive is the giver of the gift. How much meaning we place into these, it is after all a season of giving. God so loved the world that He had given His only son to us. That some day, we may remember in our hearts the true meaning of Christmas.

Happy holidays everyone!

My grown up Christmas List

7 days before Christmas and we're counting down...

I've not done any Christmas shopping except for a few loved ones and close friends. The other acquaintances, I've managed to get something that would be useful to them - a bucket of Chef Tony's designer popcorns with Privilege Passes from Ayala Cinemas (for the THX theaters) accompanying the gift!

What I cannot stand most of all are recycled gifts. You know. The ones that some of us get from last year's Christmas finds under the tree, which we have not used and decide to "recycle" them this year. Talk about modern day Scrooge! Hence, it has become a tradition of mine that I shall never give a gift that is not well thought of. No matter how simple the gift is, I put two things into perspective - use and practicality. Of course, at the very core of the gift is the thought and heart of gift giving.

So what do I want for Christmas? That's a question my friends always ask me.

1. The new MacBook Pro. But I have an old one...so I'm not spending for the new one until this old one bogs down or gets sequestered. Why do I want it? It's a beauty to behold...

2. A P100,000 shopping spree at Rustan's. I've been eyeing some jewelry and bags at Rustans and their Store Specialists, Inc., but I'm not willing to part with hard earned cash for "wants" and not "needs". There's a beautiful Bulgari ring and a swank new Prada bag that's for the buying...

3. A new SUV. Well...I've parted with my old CRV and the new Montero Sport is really sleeky! Then there's the new Audi A4 and the Volvo S40. Again, I'm not willing to flash a new car based on wants and not on needs. Besides, it's like throwing money down the drain.

It's a wish list. I don't expect anything. And at my age, I can still dream big...maybe someday...when I'm president of the Philippines....

Yuletide yet?

It's the last week of November and I still can't feel the spirit of the yuletide season kicking in.

Every year for the past decade, our house staff would be eager in putting up the Christmas decors right after All Soul's day. The furnitures would be rearranged, the tree would be dusted and ornaments would be cleaned. The traditional parol would be taken out of the box. I would try to find out what the holiday colors would be for this year so that new adornments to the holiday motiff would match.

For some odd reason, however, that feeling has not sunk in.

While the holiday "spirit" in all the malls in Manila officially started October 1 (with the Filipino penchant for the longest yuletide celebration in the world...as long as the month started with the suffix "-ber" the Christmas holidays have begun) and the official countdown on Philippine media begins on October 1, 2008, there just seems to be something missing this year.

I don't know if it has anything to do with all the corruption scandals the Philippine government is warped in or the fact that Mikey Arroyo, Ate Glue's son is initiating a charter change while his mother is still hot in her seat, or that the world economy seems to be deteriorating and that business in the Philippines has not been that upbeat (but it seems that we're doing much better than the US and European countries), or that the Philippine peso has deteriorated by almost 20% from a closing high last year where USD$1 = P41.50, it has dipped to P50 today, or that I just recently retired from the academe and am trying to find myself back on track with my life as a retired academician.

While there are several bazaars and tiangges left and right and jingling and jangling of carols and bells are ringin, they have not brought enough emoting to my tired spirit and has made me wonder - what ever happened to the Christmas spirit?

I instinctively went to Designer Blooms yesterday to have a floral arrangement for the house. First time I'm having the interior of the house decorated by a flower shop. It was my way of jump-starting the holiday spirit in me.

As to whether it will change the mood in the next week...well, I hope so...